Parenting Orders – Considerations of the Court

In child custody matters, when making a parenting order, the main consideration of the court is whether the proposed arrangements are in the best interests of the children.
The court presumes that it is in the best interests of the children for parents to have ‘equal shared parental responsibility’, but it...

Mistakes made in Child Custody Proceedings – Watch Your Behavior

INTRODUCTION
A traditional Chinese curse simply put is “May you live in interesting times” and ‘interesting times’ is the most charitable description of the daily happenings of those parents entering into the affray of child custody proceedings.
Seeing our own client’s daily personal battles i...

Making your AVO work for you

Most people find their AVOs to be highly effective in preventing violence, intimidation and harassment. You have every reason to be hopeful that the defendant to your AVO will take proper notice of your AVO, and that you will have no further trouble.
In the end, however, an AVO is an order of the court not jus...

Women and Family Law

This is the tenth edition of Women and Family Law. It states the law as at April 2014 that applies to married and de facto couples (including same sex de facto couples) after relationship breakdown.
This booklet provides a starting point for finding out information about the law. It provides some answers to comm...

Share the Care Parenting Plan – Collaborative Parenting Apart

Divorce and separation are painful for everyone involved–particularly children. At this challenging time children need support, love and contact with both parents.
Some certainty about the future is also very important for everyone. A written parenting plan, worked out between parents, will help clarify th...

Wallace & Stelzer and Anor [2013] FamCAFC 199
Background to the case
`A couple, known by the court as Mr Wallace and Ms Stelzer, met in 1998 at the Sydney club where Ms Stelzer worked soon after Mr Wallace split from his first wife.
He was 51 years old, divorced and came into the marriage with an "ove...

PROPERTYAND FINANCIAL SETTLEMENT

At GMH Legal, our approachable team of expert family lawyers have extensive experience in relation to property settlement. Property settlement does not just refer to the distribution of assets, such as your family home and household contents, but also the economic adjustment of other forms of rights, debts and financial assets, such as superannuation funds and savings accounts.

Our expert family lawyers and barristers have a wealth of experience in this complicated area of the law, including the valuation and division of assets and liabilities. By getting our expert advice at an early stage, we can provide you with the most cost effective and stress-free options available to reach an equitable distribution of you and your spouse or partner’s assets, rights and liabilities. We thoroughly examine every aspect of our client’s unique individual circumstances and are committed to ensuring that all our clients receive the most favourable outcome in their property settlement matter.

We see court action as a measure of last resort, which should only be engaged in cases where other, more cost-effective, avenues for reaching a voluntary agreement have been exhausted. We actively promote and encourage the use of collaborative law techniques, such as facilitated negotiation and mediation, to help former spouses and partners reach an equitable property settlement. This results in both partners having more control over the distribution of their assets and liabilities, and moreover, results in the financial pie being increased for both partners, as unnecessary costs are not incurred by paying lawyers fees and engaging the court system.

In the majority of cases, our lawyers are successful in securing an out of court settlement. We can draft binding consent orders or financial agreements that will ensure that your voluntarily negotiated settlement is formally recognized by the Australian Legal System. However, in cases where negotiation fails, our expert family lawyers will forcefully seek to secure your financial interests in the Family Court or Federal Magistrates Court. Our family lawyers have an abundance of litigation experience and know the inner workings of these courts back to front. No matter what forum you end up using to secure your financial security, we will ensure that you receive the best possible result in your given circumstances.

ERIC PETERSEN

In-House Consultant

DAVID LI

Corporate Counsel

SANTHY KOKKINOS

Graduate Solicitor

Lilian Saleh

Office Manager

What are the advantages of a property settlement?

Reaching an agreement with the other party offers many advantages, such as:

Making your own decisions

Greatly reducing the financial and emotional costs of legal proceedings

Improving communication with the other partner and increasing the ability to resolve disputes in the future

Ability to move forward and make a new life for yourself

For more information, please refer to the Family Court’s ‘Property and money after separation’ section.

Choosing negotiation over Court proceedings

At GMH Legal we see court actions as a measure of last resort, which should only be engaged in cases where other, more cost-effective, avenues for reaching a voluntary agreement have been exhausted.

We actively promote and encourage the use of collaborative law techniques, such as facilitated negotiation and mediation, to help former spouses and partners reach an equitable property settlement.

This results in both partners having more control over the distribution of their assets and liabilities, and moreover, results in the financial pie being increased for both partners, as unnecessary costs are not incurred by paying lawyers fees and engaging the court system.

Parties should always make a genuine effort to reach a property settlement. Before filing an Application for financial orders in Court, parties will be required to follow pre-action procedures, which include attending dispute resolution.

For more information, please refer to the Family Court’s ‘If you don’t agree about property and money’ section.

How does a Court decide financial disputes?

If the parties cannot reach a property settlement, they need to apply to a Court for financial orders. There is no official formula used to divide property, instead the decision is made after all the evidence is heard and the judicial officer decides what is just and equitable based on the unique facts of your case.

The Family Law Act sets out the general principles the Court considers when deciding financial disputes after the breakdown of a marriage (section 79(4) and 75(2) or a de facto relationship (section 90SM(4) and 90SF(3)).

The general principles are based on:

Clarifying each parties’ assets, debts, and their value

Analysing the direct financial contributions of each party to the relationship such as wage and salary earnings

Looking at indirect financial contributions by each party such as gift and inheritance from families

Identifying the non-financial contributions to the relationship such as caring for the children and homemaking

Future requirements: age, health, financial resources, care of children and ability to learn.

In the event negotiation fails, at GMH Legal our expert family lawyers will forcefully seek to secure your financial interests in the Family Court or Federal Magistrates Court. They have an abundance of litigation experience and know the inner workings of these courts back to front. No matter what forum you end up using to secure your financial security, we will ensure that you receive the best possible result in your given circumstances.